Israel and the occupied territories: facts and figures, January - May 2012

31-07-2012 Facts and Figures

Between the beginning of January and the end of May 2012, the ICRC:

  • monitored the humanitarian consequences of Israeli practices and policies for the civilian population in the occupied territories, making confidential representations to the Israeli authorities;
  • visited some 2,000 people detained by the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and in Gaza, to assess their treatment and living conditions;
  • monitored the overall situation of some 8,500 Palestinian detainees in Israeli places of detention, paying particular attention to the treatment and conditions of detention of some 2,500 of them;
  • significantly stepped up visits to Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons and closely monitored the medical situation of approximately 2,000 detainees during their hunger strike, which lasted over a month;
  • arranged for 41,000 people from the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights to visit 4,000 relatives in Israeli places of detention;
  • worked with Palestine Red Crescent volunteers to distribute food parcels to over 1,400 needy Bedouins in the Jordan Valley;
  • facilitated access to land for 116 households in the West Bank areas worst affected by movement restrictions;
  • improved sanitary conditions for some 200,000 people in Beit Hanoun and Rafah in Gaza;
  • assisted over 10,600 impoverished people in the Gaza Strip through cash-for-work projects such as employing artists to create works of art conveying educational, health and social messages, or employing people to upgrade roads so as to guarantee better access to schools and farms in all seasons;
  • delivered agricultural inputs and planting materials to 124 farming households in Gaza border areas to boost food production;
  • assisted over 160 people in the West Bank and Gaza by distributing essential household items after their houses had been destroyed;
  • delivered 230 tonnes of medical supplies and 10 tonnes of other supplies to eight key Gaza hospitals;
  • provided spare parts for hospital generators and laundry equipment in all Ministry of Health hospitals and for water treatment equipment in Tal Al Sultan Hospital;
  • supplied machines, spare parts and consumables required for basic non-medical services such as laundry and sterilization in eight hospitals in Gaza with a total capacity of 1,500 beds;
  • provided 300,000 litres of fuel for 13 Ministry of Health hospitals in Gaza with a total of 1,935 beds to help them cope with daily power cuts lasting as long as 16 hours;
  • completed two water and power supply projects in European Gaza and Najar hospitals, which have a combined total of 260 beds;
  • helped the Artificial Limb and Polio Centre in Gaza to treat over 1,200 patients, over 250 of whom also received physiotherapy;
  • supported the emergency medical services of the Palestine Red Crescent Society and the Magen David Adom;
  • spread knowledge of international humanitarian law among academics, religious groups and journalists;
  • raised awareness of international human rights standards among Palestinian law-enforcement officials;
  • briefed Israeli armed and security forces about the mandate of the ICRC and basic principles of international humanitarian law.